the.com/pine
a tree so stubborn it ages itself into the oldest living thing on Earth
means To pine is to ache with longing for something or someone absent or lost; as a noun, it's an evergreen coniferous tree with needle-like leaves and cones.
from Two different roots quietly share one spelling. The tree comes from Old English 'pin,' borrowed from Latin 'pinus,' the classical name for the pine. The verb 'pine' — to waste away with grief — comes from a separate path: Old English 'pinian,' meaning to torment or suffer, itself rooted in Latin 'poena,' punishment (the same ancestor as 'pain' and 'penalty'). So the longing kind of pining is, etymologically, a slow self-inflicted punishment — and its likeness to the tree is pure coincidence.
- elder god
- Bristlecone pines top 4,800 years old
- edible bark
- Inner pine bark was famine flour for centuries
- acid soil
- Needles poison the ground beneath rivals
- fire trick
- Some cones only open in wildfire heat
- named yearning
- To pine means to wither, like the tree
whitebark pine — endangered high-altitude species in rocky mountains, decimated by blister rust and mountain pine beetles
bristlecone pine — oldest known trees on earth, some over 5,000 years old in california's white mountains